Does the University of Illinois MBA Program Hate the Troops?
Breaking News: This will be updated in this post as more information comes in. (Hat Tip to Marathon Pundit.
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) has established an innovative program specifically targetted to Illinois veterans of the War on Terror. Basically, the state and the University will allow them to get a FREE executive MBA from UIUC (in there Chicago office) or attend the MBA program in the Champaign campus by having the state pay for the program with Illinois Veterans Grants (IVG) and the College of Business picking up the rest (about 54% of the total yearly tuition). The program was touted far and wide by Rumsfeld, Congressmen, and the State of Illinois. There were 110 slots for veterans. In the end, according to varying reports, 46 were accepted. The details of the program can still be viewed on the College of Business website.
The architect of the program has left the University and has filed a lawsuit, alleging anti-military bias and discrimination. The University of Illinois system is the same system that employs William Ayers as a distinguished professor of education. That’s the same Bill Ayers that tried to blow up government buildings and infamously quipped that people should kill their parents.
According to Robert Van Der Hooning, the architect of this program, the University (specifically Dean Ghosh) tried to scale back the amount of “jarheads” in the program. He alleges that the criteria for acceptance was changed after the vets were promised slots. That is why only 46 of the 110 slots are currently taken by students. According to anonymous sources, the reason that the number is so low is that the remaining applicants did not meet the criteria for acceptance by the appropriate deadlines. One would assume that a free executive MBA would draw more than 110 applications and that applications denied for cause would not have lead to a high-profile administrator in the College of Business not only leaving the University but filing a lawsuit.
Currently, Dean Ghosh is referring all questions to the University Public Relations office and Lt. Gov. Quinn is unavailable as of this writing to comment further.
According the University spokesperson Robin Kaler, the EMBA program only has a capacity of 60 students. The room will only accomodate that many students and there is only enough faculty to handle one class of those 60 students. The program has cost the College of Business $650,000 and according to Kaler, “all commitments were honored regardless of whether they were authorized or not.”
At present, the facts on hand don’t warrant the kind of article that Marathon Pundit put up (and Pajamas Media linked to). I’m not saying the University is in the right, I’d like to see more information.
Possibility 1: That Ghosh and company did in fact have a problem with too many jarheads in the program. This, after having supported the creation of a program almost exclusively for jarheads.
Possibility 2: Miscommunication about what can and cannot be done with Van Der Hooning over-extending the University.
Possibility 3: Van Der Hooning is engaging in a press push to keep the heat on the University while his lawsuit is working his way through the court of claims in Illinois.
Kaler made some pretty good and fatal points to Van Der Hooning’s claims. One of them is lying, the facts will determine which one.
More facts need to be had before condemning the University, or at least Dean Ghosh, of being on an anti-military crusade. There are more questions to ask, and the downside of blogging, is that people want to rush their stories to the web without doing all the footwork to get the facts straight. Will update with more information when I get it.
(Waiting on calls back from others in the know, will update as I get it).
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I’m a bit confused. At my university, the degree-granting program (department, school, or college) is entirely in charge of who they do and do not admit, and the higher university administration have no say. Is this not the case at UI?
Comment by rightwingprof | March 7, 2007
For GRADUATE programs, I should have said (undergrads are admitted by the university, of course).
Comment by rightwingprof | March 7, 2007
To Rightwingprof - you are pretty much correct. I chaired Admissions, which was authorized by Champaign. In the 3 years I was there, the MBA program Admissions Committee basically “admitted” people and then the Graduate College formalized this with a letter. Never in my 3 years had the Graduate College ever overruled the Admissions Committee of a professional program I ran.
- Robert vdH (the guy in the story)
Comment by Robert vdH | March 13, 2007
Mr. Bambenek, I gotta agree with you. Why would the U of I start a progam designed to support war veterans if they were so disgusted by the prospect of veterans attending thier college? It sounds like Robert vdH made an error in admissons which, like you said, would over extend the resources of the university. Now he’s trying to cover his own ass with a lawsuit. I guess that pat on the back from Rumsfeld felt pretty good, but he should learn to own up to his mistakes.
Comment by leftwingstudent | April 18, 2007
Also, I think the real problem is the State’s inability to properly fund the IVG. See the Daily Illini article about this.
Comment by leftwingstudent | April 18, 2007
Also, check out this post from a student:
s a current student of the EMBA program, and commissioned officer in the IL Army National Guard I want to share that I do not believe there is much credence to the allegations, and would hope that people avoid the rush to judgement I saw in the first few comments. I have personally received substantial personal attention by some of the staff referred to in this article, and have had a very positive experience at the program. Further, I can not possibly fathom how the progam could fit 110 veterans simultaneously in one year and I always assumed the 110 figure was a multi-year program. The room for the program (and there is only one room as I see it) holds at most 55-60 students, and the concept of 110 veterans attending in a single year seems beyond absurd. Lastly, when these facts are taken in concert with the overwhelming dissapointmet of the students in the program at the poor organization of the program under the former director, one has to view these allegations with an extremely high dose of skepticism.
Comment by skeptical, sorry RVDH | April 18, 2007
Did you see Marathon Pundit’s latest just published?University of Illinois: “Hookers are Praised as Soldiers” –Marathon Pundit’s Third Investigative Report. OMG. They got Imus working in Champaign. This guy - Larry DeBrock - calls his own faculty colleagues high priced hookers willing to work in Chicago for the right price one minute but evidently not enough for veterans the next minute. I don’t care what the university’s public relations people say, these people are just plain strange. Check that. Lying strange people.
Comment by Dan Kaczjeski | May 26, 2007
check this out from Daily Illini. It’s from a professor.
http://www.dailyillini.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticleComments&ustory_id=bbb7353c-0772-41ed-9676-129d266e9ecc#7ce11154-696a-4cb1-a6e8-a6d95e56eaea
posted 6/12/07 @ 12:36 PM EST
Clay, Ivan, Kirk:
I was one of your professors.
I’ve talked to several of your classmates. Bob was very well regarded, as was the rest of the staff at the Illini Center who worked long hours to give you a terrific, innovative MBA experience.
I’m really disappointed in the comments made by Clay and Ivan. Not only do your comments appear to be virtually identical, they are a bit on the slanderous side and uninformed. There is no way for you to know what really happened. Only a handful of people know. Only a handful of people were involved. I doubt any of the principals confided in you.
Your criticism of Bob is harsh and off the mark. He?s not perfect, but you should have been around this program a couple years ago. Bob did a wonderful job to get this program where it is today. He brought diversity to the classroom in terms of students and faculty. From all reports I heard, every time one of your class voiced displeasure about meals, a professor or any issue, Bob and the staff were extremely responsive to your feelings and needs. I’m not sure what your complaint is about Bob. Yes, he was the Director of the program, but he wore multiple hats - China, projects, new courses, new professors, special speakers, recruiting new classes, developing new programs, working with the business community. He was one guy. To besmirch him after he’s gone, without the benefit of facts, is in poor taste.
From what I heard from your classmates, Bob made several announcements to the class about the 110 military scholarships, and the class applauded. From what I know about Bob, the only thing he was concerned about was your success in the program and making sure the program grew in quality, quantity and stature so that your degree meant more as time went on. Does that sound familiar? It should, because I was there when he told you. It was the same theme he stressed with faculty in Champaign.
Ivan, I am sorry, but I think you have an axe to grind. I?ll leave it at that. Your comment, “the UIUC EMBA program is offering the most generous financial aid to veterans and military members of any comparable program in the nation,” is off the mark. Funding came from the State of Illinois through the IVG Program - about 60% this past year - and Bob?s efforts reached many political leaders in Illinois and Washington. There are legislative proposals in Sprinfield to fully fund IVG next year. You also wrote there was only one classroom that could seat 55-60. Ivan, walk across the hall from classroom A to classroom B. That’s the second classroom. And just south of that one is another one, and just south of that one is the Illinois Room - twice as large as the 2 largest classrooms. Did you know about the plan to expand Classroom C into the Illinois Room? Did you know the Board of Trustees approved a new lease for your program at the Illini Center with an option to take over additional floors, including the one just above yours? Then there’s the Orange and Blue Room, and so on.
Perhaps we should debate the role of the State?s flagship public university, funded in large part with taxpayer dollars at the State and Federal level. So what if UIUC only pockets 60% of $74,000? That?s still 4-5x the average IVG award in the State of Illinois among 20 or so other public institutions. The university has statutory responsibilities under IVG. Discriminating against veterans because IVG is underfunded has serious implications. Check out the latest report by the Illinois Board of Higher Education.
Clay, how would you possibly know what Bob and the Dean agreed to? Did you read the Dean?s email which argued to cut the scholarships back from 110 to 15 based on underfunding of the IVG program? Were you aware that admissions criteria were changed halfway through the admissions process - just for veterans? How would you feel if your signature was taken from an electronic file and pasted on a letter you didn?t write? Were you aware Bob was ordered to recruit civilians but tell veterans that the program was full? Did you read Dave Ikenberry?s email to Bob detailing a strategy to recruit more civilians while cutting back veterans already admitted? Did you know that the same person who denied calling veterans “jarheads” referred to his own colleagues in writing as “high priced hookers”?
Kirk, you raise a valid point. The vast majority of veterans Bob recruited already worked in industry in a variety of different jobs. Just like you. Yes, there were several that just returned from active duty, but I would argue that these people had tremendous leadership and technical skills that many MBAs lack but industry covets.
I wish you the best of success in your future endeavors.
Comment by Jeff | June 13, 2007
Vander Hooning has a history of filing whistleblower cases. Look up Coleman Cable.
Comment by annonymous | July 26, 2007
U of I lost their motion to dismiss the lawsuit against them for discriminating against veteran. Guess they have some explaining to do after all. Case is going to court in Chicago in a few weeks. Will be interesting to see how this turns out since Michael Shakman, the anti-corruption attorney who took on Daley, is the lawyer opposite U of I in court.
Comment by George | August 23, 2007
Look up Coleman Cable whistleblower case circa 1993-1994. Also check out RVH’s litigation history in Cook County, IL and Boston, MA. I question a person’s character and integrity when they seem to want to make a living out of litigating. RVH
Comment by annanymous | September 13, 2007
Check RVH Coleman Cable whistleblower case circa 1993-1994. Also check RVH litigation history in Cook County, IL and Boston, MA. There seems to be a lot of litigation skeletons in RVH’s closet. I seriously question the honesty and integrity of this seemingly litigation-prone individual.
Comment by annanymous | September 13, 2007